This week I am looking at researching on extending the world in the game and how to implement voice narration. Also I will be reviewing bugs and issues found from playtesting.
Adressing issues
A playtest had identified some issues with the game.
- Use contextual clues thorughout to aid players in solving the puzzles.
- Resolve the blue plane/screen appearance.
- Replicate white screen bug in Refinement phase.
- Adjust visual aspects of Research phase making it less straining for the eyes.
- Confine the stacking boxes to one spot for a better transition to the next scene.
- Begin implementing the finalisation phase.
In response some solutions were implemented for most of the issues above.
- This may be resolved by implementing environmental objects. As such this may come under building an environment for the rest of the game and should come later.
- A different material and texture has been placed to imitate smudges on a computer screen as well as moving television lines to emphasise the presence of the screen.
- This could not be replicated but will still be monitored in the future. I also identify this as a low priority issue.
- With the material and television lines implemented in 2, the visual intensity of some objects has been lessend, playtesting would help show if this was enough. Some objects colours were also changed to muted colours.
- A marker is placed in the middle to identify where the player needs to build that tower of boxes. The game does not advance until a tower is built in that spot.
- The final phase requires a large amount of 3D model work in Blender which I am experienced in. However I wish to perform a case study to best approach this part of the game design process.
Reflecting on current build
Right now the game has taken a different approach, before the game charges the player with fixing the game. However, the game mechanics and structure encourage the player to be a part of the creative process and to make the game. This is expressed through those different puzzles throughout. There is still room for the meta-element. As well as building a 3D environment for the player to explore in (Finalisation phase).
Approaches for indexical story telling and world-building
I will be looking at different approaches to world-building and how world-building is used to tell a story.
Building a living world from Ancient Ruins: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Source: [https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025769/Building-a-Living-World-from]
Defining vision-Here is a conference talk given by Benjamin Hall and Thierry Dansereau. The talk is broken down into seperate parts, one of which is “Vision”. This is seems to be their initial approach. They gather references from films and games that heavily feature ancient greece, as well as paintings that depict that era. They had also conducted reasearch as well as consulting with Stephanie-Anne Rauta, greek historian. This is followed by identifying what they DO NOT want first, then place an emphasis on what they want for their world.
Phases-After doing research they begin to build. Phase one was the above. This involved informing their different departments on the research, those departments would then discuss their ideas and begin to create paper maps. Phase two involved looking at the terrain of the map. Phase three was grey-boxing, creating the buildings required and other assets. Phase four is where the art design and level design begins. Filling the world with interactable content and ensuring they are visually consistent.
Worldbuilding Out of Bounds by Jess Haskins
Source: [https://jess-haskins.medium.com/worldbuilding-out-of-bounds-49701c1b3b54]
In this article, Jess Haskins places emphasis on worldbuilding and how best to represent diversity. It begins by stating that the games are political and carry messages. “You’re making a political statement every time you tell a story or create a fictional world with implicit rules about how you think things work.” The statement of my game is that the creative process and making games is difficult and I try to communicate that to the player. However, I have not considered how this could affect other people. The message has not yet been implemented, once it has I should focus on feedback on this front. “research it as if you literally did not know the first thing about it.”
The main focus of this article is that of the representing diverse characters in works of fiction. My main issue is that there are only two characters present in my game. The narrator and the player. The narrator is some form of myself, but the player can only be their self in the game, I cannot entirely influence or control that. As such the way the narrator talks to the player must be considered, the previous build had voice lines that chastise the player for “breaking” the game. I don’t believe this approach would help convey my message. This coincides with my earlier decision to change the game, that being the game now lets the player help build the “game” instead of being responsible for it and trying to fix something. This I believe is a friendlier approach when involving the player in the narrative.
Worldbuilding approach and decisions
It’s clear that both place emphasis on research on whatever world/character they are trying to include, my game world is quite small and only focuses on the player and the narrator. The player gets pulled into the virtual world of the narrator’s space where the game is housed. As such it is a virtual space, so what the player should see is a representation of what that world would look like. Because of this I believe it does not need to be representative of anything particularly life-like or accurate to an exisitng aesthetic. As such I could base it off on works of fiction that try to capture virtual worlds. Below I have listed some sources of inspiration.
Hackers (1995)-Depicts a virtual world in cyberspace filled with large structures that house pieces of code. This attempts to capture complex data traffic in computers.
Cyberpunk 2077-The cyberspace is represented as a large collection of number matrices tiled together to suggest structures and spaces. Streams of light also outline many spaces and shapes.
The above sources would help develop the aesthetics of the game. As of right now there won’t be much of a priority for this. From these sources there seems to be a need to depict data or information moving or being stored. These can be used as indices to describe code for the game that the player and narrator are working towards.
Voice narration approach
Part of the world is the voice over narrator. The narrator also directly involves the player, the narrator will also be the main method of giving instructions to the player. The role of the narrator is responsible for a lot of the game. Below I have conducted some research on games that feature the use of a voice over narrator. I am specifically looking at how these narrators are used to inform the player of what to do and how they communicate a meta-narrative.
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist by Crows Crows Crows-The narration here is used to direct the player between different tasks to accomplish.
All the while hinting towards a game that the player never gets to play, but enlists the player to help them maintain and progress the game with studio-like contraptions and tools. The narration also helps reinforce the concept of the game being a stage production that’s barely holding on, the narrator expresses some comedic distress. There are also multiple objects in game like resignation letters and signs that inform you about the narrator and the game world. Again it heavily reinforces the slip-shod environemnt of the studio that the player is navigating through.
The Stanley Parable by Davey Wreden and William Pugh-The narrator, describes who the player character is and offers context to the player’s initial situation. As the player progresses the narrator continually describes the player actions. Then there are suggested choices the player should take, more in the form of direct instruction. The player may follow the narrator’s instructions or they may disobey. Upon disobeying, the narrator chastises the player and begins to rectify the game. The narrator adopts a less passive role in the game and actively changes the player’s environment and choices. The narrator expresses emotional distress then confusion and ultimately anger should the player continue disobeying. As this continues, the player is forced to choose whether to engage with the game or try to disrupt the story. As they keep going against the story, the narrative shifts to focusing on the narrator and player’s struggle for agency in the game.
There is no Game by Draw Me A Pixel-The narrator directly addresses the player. The narrator constantly tries to persuade the player that there is no game and begins to frame the narrative, introducing their self as a program who is talking to the player for the developer. The narrator does not entirely instruct the player, but takes a reactionary role. It seems that the more a player interacts with the game the more the narrator reacts, goading them on in a sense. Even if the dialogue seems to suggest doing the opposite. Again the narrator is omnipotent in the game and controls game elements, like spawning in a different title after the player destroys it. There also elements that change the narrator, a mute button is available to mute the narrator.
In conclusion
In all three games the narrator adresses the player directly, then immediately introduces the story of the game and provides context for the player. Narration always has an influence in player choices, this is achieved by either telling the player what to do, provide contextual clues or telling the player to NOT do something. Another similarity is that the narrator personifies the game itself and controls the game, they can affect the mechanics and introduce objects or load levels. A relationship is developed, this may be antagonistic or cooperative depending on the narrative and context.
For the project
The narrator will cooperate with the player, at first it will be understood that the game is not finished, so the narrator asks the player to help them complete the game. That will be the story for the game. The narrator will also give instruction to the player to follow, all the while alluding to the difficulties in getting the player through the game.